I pushed my local repository to GitHub. In the process of committing my code, I forgot to create a .gitignore file. As a result, I have committed and subsequently pushed some folders and files that I didn’t want on GitHub (or in my local repository, for that matter).

How can I apply .gitignore now, so that I can remove some undesired folders and files going forward?

4 Solutions collect form web for “How to apply gitignore afterwards?”

You can git rm <unnecessary file and folder names> then add them to your .gitignore file, which will remove them from that commit forward. The issue is that they will remain in the history unless you alter the earlier commits. If there is no sensitive data in those files, I’d say leave the history as is. If you need to remove sensitive data from your repository history, see GitHub’s help article on the subject